Pastoral Letter 259

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents, 

Grace and peace to you all. I hope all is well.

We are at the end of the Lent Season, moving into the Holy or Passion week, starting with Triumphant Entry of Jesus to Jerusalem when a big crowd followed Him with the shouts of joy and Hosannas, meaning “Lord save us”. The week will be a solemn week as we continue the last part of our journey of Lent with Jesus, who knew that He was heading not only to the Holy City to be welcomed by olive and palm branches, but knowing that He was heading straight to Calvary, to the cross, to be a willing sacrifice for our sins and to gives us hope of salvation through His death and resurrection on the glorious Easter Sunday. So, let’s continue our journey with Him looking to the cross of hope and deliverance.

Tomorrow as we celebrate Palm Sunday, we will be privileged again with the visit of the Sydney Central Coast Presbytery’s Chairman, Rev. Keith Garner. This will be Keith’s second visit since he became the Chair of the Presbytery and will share with us the message of the Gospel with the title “The Crowd that Followed Him into the City”.  A big thanks to him in advance. I urge you all to make an extra effort to come and worship with us.

Also, tomorrow, at 3:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Uniting Church 197 Mcquarie Street Sydney, there will be a special Prayer Vigil Service to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the 10th anniversary of the Genocide recognition by the Uniting Church in Australia. The Assembly President, Rev. Charissa Suli, has extended a warm invitation to the Uniting Church members to come and join the Prayer Vigil. We are expecting many church leaders and representatives of both the Christian community, as well as the Armenian community. If you have an hour of spare time, please come and join us. I am glad and so thankful that our Organist, Mark, will be playing the pipe organ during the Service. A big thank you for Mark and Barbara for changing their travel plan to Port Stephen’s to be with us at the Service. Thanks Mark.

If you are not able to join us tomorrow for worship, please light a candle and join us for worship following the Order of the Service.

Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.

Here are some prayer points for this week:

  1. Pray as we continue our Lent journey in the Holy week.
  2. Pray for those who are affected by wars and natural disasters.
  3. Pray for trusting God and asking that He protect those who need protection.
  4. Pray for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the struggling and the stressed.
  5. Pray for the coming Federal Election on 3 May 2025 hoping and praying that the right people are elected to serve our country.

In Christ

Krikor